Wednesday, February 10, 2010

'Ishqiya' sweet triumph for Vidya Balan

'Ishqiya' comes with the Vishal Bhardwaj tag, which is a disadvantage. He is the producer, and director Abhishek Chaubey seems to be a Bhardwaj acolyte. The story and the style of presentation carry the Bhardwaj flavour which is irritating to say the least. Many of the viewers and reviewers of this film were all praise of Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi. But there is nothing to write home about their performances. Their roles pose no challenge to the two seasoned actors. The story actually revolves around the Vidya Balan character, the wife of a gangster somewhere in the badlands of eastern Uttar Pradesh. After the geographical faux pas of 'Omkara', this Bhardwaj film has at last got the place right. Balan is not much of a talented actress, and she is much too urbane for this small-town strong-willed libido-driven woman. No. She is not the woman looking for prey. She is a woman who longs for a man in her life. That is why, the character is endearing. There is something disarmingly charming about this simple desire. The ambiguity in her attitude to the two crooks on the run at her homestead is innocent and intriguing. It is her inability to act, and this includes her refusal to over-act, that allows Balan to exude a certain control in the portrayal of the heroine of the film. It is her elegant face that has the ability to convey feelings and attitudes, and like the intelligent woman that she is Balan does not come between her face and the role.There are many stupid Bhardwaj things in this film including the constant allusions to old Hindi film songs, and the use of expletives in the dialogue. Arshad Warsi's character uses a particular expletive in the beginning and forgets to stick to it in the rest of the film. Balan's 'chutium suphate' is old hat and it is not something that will outrage anyone's sense of delicacy. So, the purpose of using bad language does not serve its purpose because there is no shock value. The film could have been better if it had delved a little more into Balan's character. But as it is, it remains a Balan centred film, and through her non-acting she achieves a sweet triumph.